1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a radiopharmaceutical pig that permits a technician to remove a radiopharmaceutical dose from the pig after removing one section of the pig from the other by rotating the one section relative to the other while not manually grasping the other section.
2. Incorporation by Reference
The disclosure of application Ser. No. 09/878,502, “Radiopharmaceutical Pig and Transportation Apparatus,” filed Jun. 11, 2001, is incorporated herein by reference.
3. Discussion of the Related Art
Devices for transporting radiopharmaceutical doses are known. One such device is presently manufactured by Biodex Medical Systems, Inc. This device includes a lead radiopharmaceutical pig, a second lead shielding enclosure, and a polyethylene shipping container. A syringe containing a radiopharmaceutical substance is placed inside the pig. The pig is then placed in the lead enclosure that is within the shipping container. This arrangement satisfies federal requirements concerning maximum radioactivity level detectable at the outside of a container used to transport a radiopharmaceutical dose.
To gain access to the radiopharmaceutical dose, the pig must be removed from the second level shielding enclosure and then opened. Since the pig is formed of two sections that open by turning one with respect to the other, one is grasped and held stationary while the other is turned. Due to the weight of the pig, the section to be held stationary is placed on a surface and its side wall is grasped and held stationary during rotation of the other section. Since the lead shielding of the pig is thinner along its side wall close to where the two sections join than at its ends, a technician grasping the side wall may be exposed to radiation in excess of federal standards while opening the pig, unless the technician takes additional precautions to protect his/her hand from radiation exposure.
To further minimize exposure to radioactivity, it is desirable to remove the top of the pig and gain access to the syringe without grasping the pig in a manner that requires removal of the radiation lead shield. This is because grasping the pig with the hand increases hand exposure to radiation. Where the radiopharmaceutical in question is one used for Position Emission Tomography (“PET”), such as F18-labeled fluorodeoxyglucose, the high initial dose required to be shipped in order to have a physiologically effective dose for treatment (480 mCi shipped to have a dose of 15 mCi available for administration to a patient ten hours later), increases the need to limit hand exposure to radiation.
Even in the case in which the entire pig is to be removed from the shipping container and placed behind radiation shielding on a counter top or other “hot” surface, the radiopharmaceutical-containing syringe will be accessed outside of the shipping container and radiation lead shielding. In this circumstance, it is similarly desirable to remove the top section of the pig and gain access to the syringe without grasping the sidewall of the pig at a location that was underneath where the radiation lead shielding was in the shipping container before removal of the pig, so as to minimize hand exposure to radiation.
Accordingly, there is a need for a radiopharmaceutical pig that permits the top section of the pig to be removed and the radiopharmaceutical dose contained therein to be accessed without having to grasp the sidewall of the bottom section of the pig, that is, that portion of the sidewall that is surrounded by the radiation lead shielding while in the shipping container.